What can I say? I’m a bit strange.

Nah, it was the ‘little English’ to be fair.

Garden centre.

Twelve quid, as near as damnit. And, in fairness, I declined the beans and fried tomato as I don’t like them with breakfast.

£11.99. So, no.

Edit: it also came with beans and a fried tomato, which I didn’t want, so not as bad as all that.

I’m just a cynical Brit (with Canadian blood) but my initial reaction was: “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss”.

True, but given that Trump has put tariffs on uninhabited islands in the Arctic (I believe), it’s still an interesting point to make.

Edit: spelling.

I am proudly batting zero.

I think it might simply be that Quasi wants to swap to a quiet office job!

I have one of those!

Nigel Farage in the UK.

We allowed a young Arab man to stay with us over Christmas. He’d spent a year in our town aged 8 and had returned aged 21 to revisit his old school friends, most of whom had forgotten him and didn’t trust his unsolicited FB messages. He arrived on Christmas Eve and was staying in a B&B when we agreed to meet him in a coffee shop. Needless to say, he ended up living at our place for a fortnight before he went home. Over the next decade, he popped over for a visit every few years and we went to Egypt a couple of times. Sadly he was born with a congenital heart defect and died a while ago now, leaving a wife and daughter. We are still in contact with his family.

Back in 2022, we nearly agreed to host a Ukrainian refugee (there’s a Government scheme to arrange this) but we were downsizing to a different part of the UK and so it became unfeasible.

My brother-in-law lived with us for 6 months after his divorce 20 years or so ago. That period was quite trying.

I suppose it may not fit ‘your’ definition of healthy but that is entirely up to you. No downvote needed.

I loved this film as a kid in my early 20s. Me and a mate used to watch different movies every Friday and Saturday night with pizza and booze. Trancers was a firm favourite along with Night Patrol, The Party Animal, Animal House, Stripes, etc.

South London, UK: doner meat and chips. Optional lettuce, onions and burger sauce.

I’d have to disagree. I’m over 60 and basically healthy. I’m slightly overweight now and take one pill a day to control an enlarged prostate but that’s it.

Now I absolutely process the world. I’m married, I had three children and have suffered the usual share of family dramas / estrangements. I’ve been made redundant, run my own business, struggled to make ends meet, seen my wife suffer health issues (brain tumor, ovarian cyst, knee damage, etc.) and made and lost friends. I’m atheist, socialist and paid both a mortgage and rent. I am currently enraged by the rise of fascism and terrified for my children’s future but I wouldn’t call that mental illness. I still sleep at night, get up in the morning, try to live a good life and make a difference in my community. I’ve never been in therapy and I have had times of deep sadness and times of immense joy.

I doubt very much that I’m unusual.

The beginning? I’d say we’re well into it now.

It’s an old four book series from the '90s but I would recommend The Saga of Pliocene Exile by Julian May. They’re available as ebooks. The first one is called The Many Coloured Land.

If you enjoy the world-building, Mrs May wrote a companion series which, IMO, is even better! Starting with a link book (Intervention) there is a three book series called The Galactic Milieu series.

Both series mix fantasy and sci-fi and are truly excellent reads.

I had Monty Python’s ‘Matching Tie And Hankerchief’ which had two side As.

I’m a Brit so what do I know? But I can see him taking a leaf out of Putin’s playbook and running as VP to a family member running for President, possibly Eric. Then he’ll still be in control.